<p>For a person looking to go into law or business, what are the pros and cons of each school? Which program is more prestigious/more helpful in terms of future careers? ex: I know UChicago is more academically rigorous, but would one get better connections at Georgetown SFS?</p>
<p>&No finaid at both.</p>
<p>anyone at all?</p>
<p>Depends on what your goals are. If you want a policy position within the government or national security community or want to eventually enter politics yourself, SFS is the better choice. If you want an academic career teaching economics on tenure track at a top university, Chicago is the clear choice. For general placement in T14 Law and top 10 MBA programs it makes no difference assuming your academic record is the same at both places. </p>
<p>Weather wise, avoid SFS in August and Chicago in January/February.</p>
<p>Be carerful about the academically rigorous part. SFS demands five course per term, which none of the other top (those with 1400+ SATS) schools demand. Every one of these classes requires two exams and a major research paper which is in parallel to what four unit schools demand for each class. Don’t know exactly what Chicago demands, but it is not going to be greater than that workload.</p>
<p>what about for going into IB?</p>
<p>i would like to politely say that vienna man is completely mistaken. for whatever econ you’re pursuing (whether public policy, academia, or business) chicago is hands down the optimal choice.</p>
<p>bayvcrobets-I love great intellectual reasoning based on powerful sets of facts.</p>
<p>bump… :)</p>
<p>Would love to have to decide between these two.</p>
<p>I agree with the balanced tone, and with much of the substance, of what vienna man says. But …</p>
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<p>Be realistic about what you can get with a terminal Bachelors degree from Georgetown SFS (or Chicago). A “policy position within the government or national security community” likely starts from a cubicle at GS7 or equivalent pay. And getting hired depends on agency-specific test scores, possibly a security clearance, and hard skills, not on where you went to school per se. If SFS grads are getting these jobs in disproportionate numbers straight out of college, it may have as much to do with their interests and location as advantages peculiar to the academic program.</p>
<p>As for law or MBA placement, I agree, there probably is not much difference. For admission into PhD programs, Chicago presumably has the advantage (which I say not based on specific data for econ graduates from both schools, but just because Chicago’s “PhD productivity” rates are among the highest in the country - though this, too, probably reflects student interests). For iBanking jobs straight out of college, I really can’t say. According to Business Week, Chicago has the #1 MBA program; according to USNWR, it is #5 overall (#2 for finance). This may give the campus extra drawing power for finance recruiting, but I would not know how much if any advantage undergraduates get. </p>
<p>Now, aside from the “outcomes” issues, which is the better place to go to college? Chicago is a major research university with greater breadth and depth across a wider range of fields. It has a much better library system, special collections, and scientific facilities. Chicago also has a strong undergraduate focus, with a principled, time-tested approach to curriculum and instruction, including rewards for teaching excellence. Georgetown’s greatest strengths are in a smaller number of niche areas (including the SFS.) The Jesuits do tend to be good teachers, and Georgetown does bring in a number of political luminaries to teach post-retirement. But Chicago’s faculty is paid more, publishes more, has a better record of awards and national academy membership. Chicago ranks 3rd in the world for the number of Nobel laureates on academic staff before or at the time of award. Compared to Georgetown, Chicago has a better student:faculty ratio, a much higher percentage of classes with <20 students (~73% v. ~56% at GU), and a smaller percentage of classes with >50 students (4% at Chicago compared to a still very good 7% at GU). Stuff gets invented and discovered at Chicago. Entire academic fields (Sociology, Linguistics) and approaches (the “Chicago School” of literary criticism, the “Chicago School” of economics) more or less started there. Saturday Night Live has roots at the University of Chicago. So I’d say, although Georgetown may be a great school for political junkies, and is a good college overall, Chicago has a more vibrant, headier intellectual atmosphere for people with more diverse academic interests. </p>
<p>As for the settings, most students would be happier in the Georgetown environment than in Hyde Park. Chicago winters are brutal. There is no big sports scene on campus and most students study a LOT. Georgetown is known for good internship opportunities which of course benefit from the DC location. Chicago has NORC, one of the nation’s premier centers of social science data-gathering and analysis, and a larger metro area to draw on, but Georgetown probably wins overall on the location and entertainment front (although, in my opinion, Chicago has a more beautiful campus.)</p>
<p>In terms of academic record, I feel like it would be easier to keep a high GPA at SFS than Chicago. Perhaps I’m making unfair assumptions, but I just felt like most people at Chicago were smarter on average than those at Georgetown…and Chicago does have its grade deflation.</p>